RUNNERS!!! Observations on the run...

- I memorize gas prices I see around town and update GasBuddy when I get home.
- I can go an hour or more without needing a drink on the run but 20 mins of the bike: nope.
- I never pass a runner going the same direction-- when I do see someone else running, they're always going the opposite direction I am. Starting my route the opposite direction has no effect.
- when it's warm out, I often have strong desire to jump in a pool somewhere. . . but I can never work up the nerve.

People in the neighborhood will return your greeting, but they'll look at you like you're crazy and probably homeless.

I seriously need some Honeysuckle in my yard. It smells amazing.

I'm can predict with astonishing accuracy whether a house is about to go on the market or be foreclosed on, just based on the front yard.

If you run in the dark, other runners will look warily at you, like they're just out for a morning jog, but you're clearly out robbing houses with your Chihuahua accomplice - I'm guessing the massive amount of reflective gear we're wearing makes that pretty obvious?

People will always ask you "are you sure your dog is okay?"

Of course I'm sure. He's MY dog. Obviously I care whether he's okay to a much greater degree than you care. I've also spent the past two years with him, so I'm pretty tuned in to how he's feeling. If I ever had the slightest suspicion that he wasn't okay, I'd stop running. Obviously, I love my dog enough to take him running even though he's a royal pain in the *kitten* half the time. I'm not going to run him to death.

-You can spot the dogs that are right on the verge of chasing your *kitten*.

The best place I've ever been swerved at was in the parking lot for Calvary Chapel in Melbourne, FL. Really? In a uber-Christian parking lot?

Living in the back country of South Carolina you are just a likely to get spooked by a goat, opossum or deer as a dog. Goat yesterday...Deer today! lol...and rubber belts (from car/lawnmower) laying on the side of road looks just like a snake ...which I also get startled by. Had to jump over a live snake 2 months ago because it slithered out of the grass right in front of me! Yep..pretty wild round these parts!

I run in a country park behind my house that has lakes, LOTS of geese,ducks, swans and other wildlife and beautiful tracks for cyclists,walkers,runners and anyone who wants to enjoy it...but the thing I see the most are tons of dog turds littered every 10 yards and dogs who are so out of control they are incredibly aggressive to the wildlife. i saw a pitbull bite a sawn and it's owner insisted that '' he's only playing and wouldn't hurt a fly'...time to find somewhere else to run, i think.

...Buzzards circling. Hubby said this is not a good sign.

^ YIKES!

I don't run per say but I do notice a lot when walking and I think we are all guilty of a lot of the stuff

- Not making eye contact - I try to say Hi, but I always feel like people are so anti social that I come across more like "Hi I want to kill you hide your body in the bushes and eat your eyeballs"

- That whole "Pedestrians have the right of way in most traffic situations" law in California is more like "suggestion" to all drivers in California -

I hate it when I am crossing a crosswalk and cars are just turning one after another in front of me, behind me etc. The law states you have to wait for the person to cross the crosswalk... At least wait until your side mirror isn't going to clip me...

No one ever stops and looks making a right turn on a green light- that flashing red Go or stick figure sign is a foreign symbol....

Dead deer do smell rank - especially in summer
Drivers in Canada (B.C.) swerve so far around you that they're driving down the other side of the road (watch out for the on-coming cars guys)
I had a an older guy walking along towards me, stop, literally right in front of me and tell me how bad running was for me - move buddy
I've found a couple of really cool signs - one telling me where to pick up my baggage
Drivers are also considerate at stop signs and wait to figure out where you're going (I usually gesture - nicely - with all five fingers)
I agree - starting in the rain sucks, but finishing in the rain is great
Running in the snow is so peaceful - it's surreal
Peoples dinners always smell so goooood

In Southern Cali - beach

- Moms with double twin strollers that take up most of the running lanes
- People on bikes will keep honking their little horns if you are running in the bike lanes
- There is always at least ONE guy in speedos, with headphones, running, skating, or riding his bike
- Everyone is pulling out wedgies
- Every makes appoint to say hi to me when i run....But then I make an appoint to say hi to people too lol

ETA: posted but added more

walkers/runners with dogs never clean up the poop, NEVER!

Not true... if you ran by me, you'd often see me running with a bag of poo. It's gross but I do it because it's even grosser to step in it. I buy scented bags and I double bag as needed. It helps a bit, but it's still not fun. I will admit that if I'm running trails with the dogs off leash and they go in the brush off trail, I don't dive in after it though.

Other things I've seen / noticed:

Also amazed by the numbers of condoms / condom wrappers in residential areas.

Have never seen roadkill that got lane-striped, but now I will be looking.

One time there was a huge mess of glitter in the bike lane on my normal path. Seriously, someone had dropped 2 or 3 jars of glitter and it'd gotten run over. I caught glimpses of it for months.

There is silverware smashed into the pavement at one of the intersections nearby... two forks and a spoon.

Once saw a wig lying in the gutter. How do you lose your wig and not go back for it?

Lots of baseball caps. Similar to the wig. Don't you notice when you lose that?

On the trails near my house... lots of dog collars. Most have tags with addresses. The collars are usually torn, so I take the tags and mail them back.

Full set of house and car keys on a trail. No other cars in the lot. That's gotta suck.

Saw a cool black and white fuzzy caterpillar the other day.

I disagree re: the geese. In Denver, they are aggressive toward runners. Now I live in COS and we don't have as many here.

Wild Turkeys really don't like runners in my experience.

The deer in my neighborhood are so tame that they are the ones who get annoyed when you have to move over and run around them on the sidewalk. I swear, one actually sighed at me the other day.

And, unfortunately, Lilac bushes make me sneeze. So does Pinon Pine. And a lot of other things I have yet to identify.

Obviously, I love my dog enough to take him running even though he's a royal pain in the *kitten* half the time. I'm not going to run him to death.

lol so true.

Also, I notice this more when walking, but why are there always so many of those handheld dental floss picks on the ground? I live in a city and they're everywhere, especially around bus stops. I am grossed out at the idea of people flossing (and also clipping their nails...) in public settings.

Running in the Central Savannah River Area (Augusta, GA)...

Most people working in their yards will wave as you run by
Humidity is my enemy and running May-September is almost punishment. You have to really want it to get out in the heat/humidity, even early-early in the a.m.
I have saved a turtle (put it back in the grass and pointed it toward the creek), a daschound (back in the yard and locked the gate) and lots of earthworms (I hate to see them flopping around in the street, lol)
Some people shouldn't have a license
Kids stare
Dogs bark and scare the poop out of me when they run up behind me and and do it
If I run on a dirt path I will get a free facial exfoliation when I wipe off

today was interesting I saw 2 homeless guys sleeping under the bridge that the trail I was on runs under.
I also saw some ducks, geese (which means watch out for huge goose droppings on the trail!!), and a river, too.

Race-running on sidewalks instead of pavement just SUCKS the life out of your legs. And I often run on sidewalk, but I don't run that HARD on sidewalks.